** FILE ** An adult emerald ash borer is shown in this photo released by Michigan State University. Insect experts are telling people in not to bother treating their ash trees for the destructive insect called the emerald ash borer. If signs of infestation begin to show, entomologists will recommend that areas be quarantined and the ash trees removed, said Phil Nixon, a University of Illinois entomologist. (AP Photo/Michigan State University, File) ** NO SALES ** less

** FILE ** An adult emerald ash borer is shown in this photo released by Michigan State University. Insect experts are telling people in not to bother treating their ash trees for the destructive insect called ... more

Photo: David Cappaert

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FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo, forester Jeff Wiegert, of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, removes emerald ash borer larvae from an ash tree at Esopus Bend Nature Preserve in Saugerties, N.Y. New Hampshire is looking at another summer of battling the emerald ash borer, the invasive beetle that's destroyed ash trees in 26 states.It's been found in at least 16 towns in New Hampshire and officials say it is spreading. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) ORG XMIT: CON101 less

FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo, forester Jeff Wiegert, of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, removes emerald ash borer larvae from an ash tree at Esopus Bend Nature Preserve ... more

Photo: Mike Groll

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NYS DEC forest pest outreach coordinator Jason Smith attaches a sign to an ash trees in Albany's Corning Preserve Friday May 18, 2012, as part of the upcoming observance of ?Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week? attach signs to ash trees to notifying visitors about the risk that the invasive insects pose to the trees. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union) less

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer shows his batter stance as he visits major league baseball bats manufacturer the Rawlings Adirondack Factory as he talks about stopping the spread of ash borers on Friday July 29, 2016 in Dolgeville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) less

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer shows his batter stance as he visits major league baseball bats manufacturer the Rawlings Adirondack Factory as he talks about stopping the spread of ash borers on Friday July ... more

Because of a change in New York state's program to combat the tree-destroying emerald ash borer, federal officials set up a quaratine to control movemet of ash trees across the border into Vermont, which is currently uninfested. less

Because of a change in New York state's program to combat the tree-destroying emerald ash borer, federal officials set up a quaratine to control movemet of ash trees across the border into Vermont, which is ... more

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An Emerald Ash Bore lava in a test tube ans a sample of the damage they can do on display at a NYS DEC news conference in Albany's Corning Preserve Friday May 18, 2012, as part of the upcoming observance of ?Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week? attach signs to ash trees to notifying visitors about the risk that the invasive insects pose to the trees. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union) less

An Emerald Ash Bore lava in a test tube ans a sample of the damage they can do on display at a NYS DEC news conference in Albany's Corning Preserve Friday May 18, 2012, as part of the upcoming observance of ... more

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

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A poster warning of invasive pests hangs at the entry booth at Moreau Lake State Park in Moreau, N.Y., on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. Loggers and campers are being snared as New York steps up efforts to stem the spread of the destructive emerald ash borer. (AP Photo archive/Mike Groll) less

A poster warning of invasive pests hangs at the entry booth at Moreau Lake State Park in Moreau, N.Y., on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. Loggers and campers are being snared as New York steps up efforts to stem the ... more

Photo: Mike Groll

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State drops invasive insect defense zone for ash trees

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ALBANY — After years of trying to slow a voracious Chinese beetle that is decimating ash trees, state environmental officials are waving the white flag: The Department of Environmental Conservation dropped a logging quarantine, and said it might be time to cut healthy trees still uninfested by the emerald ash borer.

In a brief notice posted online Wednesday, the DEC repealed logging restrictions that had failed to contain the spread of the insect by limiting shipments of ash.

The state created the quarantine in 2015 to slow the insect, which is a shiny green beetle about the size of a penny. The borer likely will ultimately bring about the end of the state's 700 million ash trees — down from earlier estimates of 900 million ash trees before the beetles' arrival — and forever change an industry that uses ash to produce bats for major league baseball.

John Bartow, the executive director of the Empire State Forest Products Association, which represents the timbering industry, welcomed the lifting of the state quarantine, which he said had been choking off summertime supplies to local mills.

Now covering 43 of the state's 62 counties, the ash quarantine is "no longer serving the purpose of slowing the spread or allowing time for municipal governments to plan for the arrival of the EAB," according to a statement released by the DEC press office.

Bartow said that borer has spread so far into the state that it is case of "getting the ash trees that you can before they all die." He said most ash in the state could be nearly gone within the next decade.

The DEC statement said that "the financial cost of the regulations to state government and the forest products industry now outweigh the limited economic benefit of protecting a dwindling ash resource from infestation. Immediate repeal of these regulations will allow the forest products industry and forest landowners to harvest and process ash that is still of high quality."

"Harvesting this resource before the infestation becomes even more widespread is in the best interest of forest landowners and the forest products industry as infested ash degrades quickly, resulting in decreased economic value and greater risk of personal injury and property damage as infested trees quickly weaken," the DEC notice continued.

Under the quarantine, ash timber had to be treated with insecticides to kill potential beetles before it could be moved out of the designated zones. During the summer months — when the insects are in flight — no ash at all could be transported out of the quarantine area. The zones also included five-mile buffers around known areas of infestation to account for undetected spread.

If the quarantine had been left in place, DEC indicated that "speculative costs" to the industry would include fines for violating quarantine and an inability to harvest and move ash within a quarantine zone to a mill during the restricted period.

DEC also estimated that the majority of "the ash resource would be impacted by EAB within the next 20 years."

But the tree might not completely disappear. Other states with beetle infestations are "starting to see pockets of ash still remaining in the landscape due to isolation, resistance to EAB or other factors," according to DEC.

Ash wood has long been a staple of the Rawlings baseball bat factory in Dolgeville, Herkimer County, where bats have been made for more than six decades. As recently as 2012, ash accounted for about 90 percent of the bats made there.

Calls to the factory for comment Wednesday were not returned.

Another iconic bat maker, Louisville Slugger, also relied on ash trees for years, but has been switching to other types of wood. Calls to the Kentucky-based company were not returned.

In a June report in Philly.com, Louisville Slugger company spokesman Rick Redman said ash usage has been on the decline for at least 10 years. He told the paper that up to 80 percent of major league players are using maple bats, with the rest split between ash and birch.

A native of China, Mongolia and northern Japan, the EAB beetle first appeared near Detroit in 2002 in Great Lakes cargo shipments, likely from Asia. The insect destroyed millions of ash trees in the Midwest as it spread steadily eastward, reaching western New York in 2009.

By 2012, 20 counties in New York were under quarantine because of beetle infestation. With no known natural predators, the beetles continued to spread in the western, central and southern sections of the state, and by 2017 had leapfrogged the Adirondacks to reach the Canadian border.

In May 2017, the state expanded the quarantine zones into 43 of the state's 62 counties, including all of the state south of the Adirondacks, Champlain Valley and Tug Hill Plateau, with the exception of New York City and Long Island.

In their larval stage, the insects damage ash trees when they feed just below the bark, burrowing in tunnels. This disrupts the tree's flow of water and nutrients, and can eventually cause the tree to die. Adult beetles leave distinctive D-shaped exit holes in the outer bark of the branches and the trunk.

Other signs of infestation include dead leaves and branches, splits in the bark, and extensive sprouting from the roots and trunk. Infested trees may attract woodpeckers that make holes to feed on the larvae.

With no effective methods to control them, the beetles have spread into 28 states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as the two neighboring Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

Beetles also were found in Moscow in 2003 and have been moving west toward Scandinavia and central Europe.